If you haven't seen this movie, you've missed a 25-year old gem.

The Duellists -- Ridley Scott's (Alien, Blade Runner, Black Rain, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise...) debut film from 1977 has long been on my "waiting for DVD" list. It's as lush and intense as I remember. Harvey Keitel (fresh out of Scorcese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver) and Kieth Carradine (best known at the time for his work in Altman's Nashville) play Napoleonic soldiers who get caught up in an obsessive 15 years of duels rooted in a forgotten reason. Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad (and on a real life pair of duelists, according to Scott's commentary track (there's also an interview and a commentary by Howard Shore on the score.)), the imagery of the film is reminiscent of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, but even more painterly, filled with chiarascuro lighting and evocative location shots. The intensity of the obsessive Keitel and the honorable Carradine is maintained through jumps in time to the final duel, the result of which is both unexpected and satisfying. Unless you've seen this film as it passed through HBO years ago, or on its previous VHS or laserdisc incarnation (as I did), chances are you're unaware of it, since when it was released in theaters, there were only seven prints, despite winning the debut award at Cannes in 1977. If you enjoy film, see this film. (Here's some additional reviews and articles.)